Feel the burn!

And not in a good way, either.

Well, yesterday was a true food adventure, and not anything like I was expecting.

The girls and I did the grocery shopping to make the dinner I had planned and were back mid-morning.

I started on the corn ice cream and the cheesecake right away, and got those things done. By the way, the corn ice cream was very unusual but good. It made a LOT!

Then I thought I would finish the dinner prep before I did my vacuuming and such. So I chopped veggies for the tacos and cleaned out 24 jalapeno peppers to make the poppers. I have never bought or eaten jalapeno peppers, but I didn't think they were that hot. I was so wrong.

As I was cleaning up, I made the mistake of touching my mouth and HOLY COW! It burned so bad all of a sudden I saw stars. I remembered that drinking milk was supposed to help and it did after a bit. Thankfully I was wearing my glasses and didn't touch my eyes. My nose was burning too, and it did for a good couple of hours.

You would think that was the end of it, but you would be wrong. My hands started burning- intensely- about an hour after I finished cleaning the peppers, around 1:30 or so. I looked up help on the internet. I tried milk, I tried peanut butter, I tried soap meant for removing grease, and all of it only gave me temporary relief. I took some Advil and that did take the edge off.

But when it came time to cook the meat for the tacos, I couldn't stand the heat of the pan, it made my hands burn so badly I couldn't hold on to the wooden spoon. Zach finished cooking it for me. By dinnertime, the pain was making me so antsy I couldn't sit still.

I obviously don't know much about peppers, but I am wondering if they weren't mixed up in the grocery store with something else, because some of them were edible and very tasty, and some were so hot that not even Rich or Zach could eat them. And that is saying something!

The pain continued right into the evening. I took more Advil and it did help a bit. Believe it or not, my hands still hurt this morning, though nothing like yesterday thank goodness. They still burn when I am near heat (like the toaster, coffee maker or hot water) and when I bend my fingers. That capsaicin is powerful stuff, I would say my skin actually was burned by it.

IF and that is a big IF, I ever work with any kind of peppers again, I will make sure to use gloves. I would have done that yesterday had I known that those peppers were that hot! Well, live and learn as they always say... lol

On a good note, the cheesecake was yummy and as I mentioned, the corn ice cream was interesting. I really like the ice cream maker we have and will be making use of it again soon.